WHEN: Friday, 7 p.m.
WHERE: EagleBank Arena - Fairfax, Va.
RECORDS: George Mason (1-0), Penn (0-1)
SERIES: Mason leads, 3-1
LIVE VIDEO: Click here
LIVE AUDIO: Click here
LIVE STATS: Click here
GAME NOTES: Click here (PDF)
TICKETS: Click here

GOLD RUSH: Student tailgate in Lot A (3-6 p.m.). Free for walkups. Gold Rush t-shirt giveaway (student only) at EagleBank Arena starting at 6 p.m.

FAIRFAX, Va. - The George Mason University men's basketball team continues its season-opening homestand with a Friday night contest vs. Ivy League foe Penn.

Tip-off between the Patriots and Quakers is set for 7 p.m. Friday's game will be broadcast on ESPN+, featuring commentary from Bill Rohland. In addition, Steve Kolbe will call the game on the GoMason Digital Network, with pre-game coverage beginning at 6:45 p.m.

PATRIOT POINTS
The Patriots opened the campaign with a 74-52 triumph over preseason America East favorite Stony Brook Tuesday night. It marked the first career win for head coach Kim English.

• Mason is now 33-23 all time in season openers. SBU's 52-point output marked the lowest by a Patriot foe in a season opener since the Patriots held IPFW to 51 on Nov. 11, 2004.

• The Patriots shot an efficient 52.5 percent from the floor in the win, including an impressive 69.4 percent from 2-point range (25-36).

• Mason limited the Seawolves to 34.4 percent overall and just two assists for the game. That 9.1 opponent assist percentage ranks first in the nation so far this season.

• Preseason All-A-10 Third Team selection Josh Oduro led Mason with 16 points (8-12 FG) to go along with five rebounds and two blocks. Graduate student DeVon Cooper added 14 points (6-9 FG), six rebounds and three assists.

• In addition, graduate student D'Shawn Schwartz registered 11 points (5-8 FG), seven rebounds, two assists and two steals, while junior Davonte "Ticket" Gaines added nine points and a career-best nine rebounds.

• Junior point guard Xavier Johnson returned to explosive form Tuesday after battling a knee injury for much of last season. The Montgomery County product notched 11 points and a game-high four steals vs. the Seawolves. It marked his highest scoring output since Nov. 28, 2020 (22-game stretch).

• The Patriots' veteran presence was on display in the opener. Mason players on the court averaged 2.26 seasons of experience Tuesday, which ranks 72nd in the country. Mason has not ranked in the top-150 nationally in experience since the 2010-11 season.

MASON WELCOMES NATIONALLY-RANKED RECRUITING CLASS
Mason's Class of 2022 is currently ranked 48th in the nation by 247 Sports and 56th by Rivals.com. The outstanding group includes ESPN Top-75 guard Justyn Fernandez (Richmond, Va./IMG Academy), who chose Mason over Florida, Tennessee, NC State and a host of other programs. In addition, consensus 3-star point guard Devin Dinkins (Washington, D.C./Gonzaga) selected Mason over Georgetown, Virginia Tech and other high major programs. Fernandez and Dinkins were AAU teammates with DC Premier.

HISTORY vs. IVY LEAGUE OPPONENTS
Mason is 8-3 all time against current members of the Ivy League. The Patriots' most common opponents are Penn (3-1), Brown (2-0) and Princeton (1-1). 

HISTORY vs. PENN
Friday's game marks the fifth all-time meeting between George Mason and Penn in men's basketball. The Patriots have won three of the four games in the series. In arguably the most memorable matchup between the teams, Mason won 79-60 in the Palestra o Dec. 10, 2016. In that win, Marquise Moore posted the first triple-double in school history (17 pts, 16 reb, 10 ast). In the most recent matchup, Penn won at EagleBank Arena 72-71 on Nov. 6, 2018.

HISTORY vs. THE BIG 5
Mason is 19-12 all time against members of Philadelphia's "Big 5." Mason is 8-5 against Saint Joseph's, 7-2 vs. La Salle, 1-4 against Villanova and 3-1 vs. Penn. The Patriots have never played Temple. Mason's most memorable Big Five win came in the 2011 NCAA Tournament, when the Green & Gold knocked off Villanova, 61-57, in the Round of 64 in Cleveland, Ohio. Harkening back to the old CAA days, Mason also has battled "City Six" school Drexel on 22 occasions while amassing a record of 14-8.

A LOOK AT THE QUAKERS (0-1, 0-0 IVY; KenPom 223)
Penn was picked to finish fourth in the Ivy League Preseason Poll. The Quakers did not suit up for the 2020-21 season due to Ivy League COVID-19 policy. In the team's first game in 613 days, Penn fell to Florida State 105-70 on Wednesday in Tallahassee. The team's top returning scorer from 2019-20, sophomore Jordan Dingle, tallied 23 points (8-15 FG, 5-8 3pt FG) in the loss to the Seminoles, while sophomore Clark Slajchert chipped in 12 points. Penn committed 26 turnovers in the game, which led to a sizable 37-11 advantage for Florida State in points off turnovers.

UP NEXT
Mason wraps up its season-opening three-game homestand with a Sunday evening contest vs. Morgan State. Tip-off between the Patriots and Bears is set for 6 p.m. inside EagleBank Arena. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN+.